Clichy affair
The Clichy affair was a significant event in the history of anarchism and France, occurring on 1 May 1891 in Clichy, when anarchists were subjected to police brutality. The affair was one of the primary causes of the Ère des attentats (1892-1894). With the Fourmies massacre, happening the same day, it was one of the events of this period where the social tensions reached their peak in France. Anarchists had faced increasing repression in the preceding decade, and they joined the early International Workers' Day. About twenty of them were peacefully demonstrating between Levallois-Perret and Clichy, preceded by a red flag carried by one of them. The police attempted to seize the flag from her, considering it a "seditious emblem", and a fight ensued, along with a shooting, as the police fired on the demonstrators who were trying to flee. Three of them, Henri Decamps, Charles Dardare, and Louis Léveillé, were arrested and, taken to the police station, were violently beaten by the police; one of the officers even tried to kill Dardare. During their trial in August 1891, the prosecutor demanded the death penalty for all three. Two of them received very heavy sentences of five and three years in prison, with the police facing no repercussions. The affair sparked outrage among a segment of French society and deeply shocked anarchists, a number of whom came to support propaganda of the deed methods—or terrorism—to avenge those responsible for their repression. A few months after the conviction of the three anarchists, Ravachol, Soubère, Jas-Béala, and Simon carried out the Saint Germain bombing, targeting the judge in charge of the trial.
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Rue Bonnet, Arrondissement of Nanterre
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| Latitude | Longitude |
|---|---|
| N 48.8975 ° | E 2.3094444444444 ° |
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Rue Bonnet 5
92110 Arrondissement of Nanterre
France
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